Undergraduate Medical Education

In 1970, Maine Medical Center (MMC) became a major clinical teaching center for Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), a relationship which lasted through July of 1980. Between 1980 and 2011, MMC had been the principal affiliate of the University of Vermont College of Medicine with third-year clerks training in all the major clinical departments throughout the year.

In 2008, MMC and TUSM signed an agreement to collaborate in delivering a unique and innovative medical school curriculum aimed at helping address access and workforce needs in the State of Maine.

TUSM, in partnership with MMC, offers the Maine Track program for applicants who are interested in a unique, innovative curriculum that offers clinical training experiences in Maine and exposes medical students to the unique aspects of rural practice as well as training in a major tertiary medical center.

Both TUSM and MMC have committed to aggressively pursuing support that will allow Maine Track students to attend medical school without unusual financial hardship. Grant support, philanthropy, and state funding continues to be sought to subsidize tuition for the Maine Track students, with the goal of reducing the tuition to a level comparable to in-state tuition at a regional medical school within a public university. To date, approximately half-tuition scholarships have been established for 20 students each year.

Legal residents of the state of Maine are given preference. All applicants with strong ties to Maine (such as primary undergraduate institution in Maine) and those with an interest in the practice of rural medicine are encouraged to apply. Graduates of the program will receive a combined diploma from TUSM and MMC with the hope that a significant number of graduates from the Maine Track will establish medical practice in Maine.